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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26723515">it doesn't ask (just walks in where it left you last)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MFLuder/pseuds/MFLuder'>MFLuder</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>DCU (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Autumn, Fluff, Harvest Festival, Holding Hands, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, autumn things, one hint of angst because I can't not</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:35:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,362</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26723515</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MFLuder/pseuds/MFLuder</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Dick side-eyes him. “Where I’m from, mazes and scarecrows have a different meaning then they probably do out here.”</p><p>“Oh, I don’t know. You’ve never seen <i>Children of the Corn</i> have you,” Roy teases.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dick Grayson/Roy Harper</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>70</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>it doesn't ask (just walks in where it left you last)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Inspiration:</p><p> </p><p>  <a href="https://ibb.co/7ty52fG"></a><br/>  <br/><i>When autumn comes<br/>It doesn't ask<br/>It just walks in where it left you last<br/>You never know when it starts<br/>Until there's fog inside the glass around<br/>Your summer heart</i></p><p> </p><p>Yes, those be John Mayer lyrics. Sue me. Because "it" here is both autumn and ~love. Roy's got it hard.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s a brisk autumn day with the sun burning bright when the Teen Titans meet outside Central City. It’s Wally’s turn to show off his city; a show-and-tell thing they started a few years ago and it has led both to their deep friendships and to a better understanding of each other’s backgrounds and abilities.</p><p>Plus, a few <i>wild</i> road trips.</p><p>It’s taken this long to get to Central because the Titans work in San Francisco and the team players mostly operate on the coasts; Roy in Star City, Dick in Gotham, Garth in the <i>actual</i> ocean. With Wally’s speed and stamina – <i>heh</i> – it’s just been easier to get him to come to them.</p><p>But Wally’s put his foot down and threatened to physically carry them all to his hometown suburb outside Central City’s harvest festival if they didn’t get their asses there on their own. Which is why Roy’s feeling laden down on cinnamon-and-sugar mini donuts, caramel apples, and spiked cider.</p><p>Spiked because, well. Bourbon goes so well with apple. Hot toddies are a cold remedy, right?</p><p>He looks over in amusement at Dick’s red-tinged nose, and the little sniffle he gives before letting out a sneeze that would rival the horses over at the petting zoo area. He slides Dick another tissue from his pocket.</p><p>Dick glares at him but uses it anyway. “Stupid hay,” he mumbles.</p><p>“You have this problem around Big Blue, too?” Roy asks, curious, letting his gaze flicker over to Wally and Donna as they drag Garth towards the small Ferris wheel the town maintains at its fairgrounds. Garth stands out, a tight blue tee stretching across his broad chest and highlighting his dark hair in the midst of a sea of orange and burgundy clothing – much of it promoting the local high school football team – and straw-blond hair of the Midwesterners.</p><p>“No,” Dick says, as he sniffles once more. “Not <i>around</i> him. But yeah, I remember when B took me out to visit the farm. My sinuses hated me for like a week after.”</p><p>Roy chuckles. “Poor little bird has allergies.”</p><p>Dick glowers, shoving the tissue into his pocket. “Not at home, I don’t. Hey, are we going on the Ferris wheel or what? The rest of them are already on!”</p><p>Sure enough, Roy can see the three who were ahead of them getting seated in one of the bucket seats. Above, in the clear blue sky, Kory and Rachel are already at the top, their bucket swinging in the wind off the plains. They wave down at Dick and Roy, who both wave back.</p><p>Roy sees the enchanted expression in Dick’s eyes and feels something bitter churn in his stomach. He supposes it’s the corndog from earlier.</p><p>“No, no, we’re not,” Roy decides on a whim. He begins pulling on Dick’s black sleeve, right above the exposed skin of his bicep. He smiles at Dick, seeing his most convincing grin flashed back at him in the black of Dick’s Ray-bans. “We’re going this way.”</p><p>Roy hears Wally call out to them, but he doesn’t look back, hopes Dick doesn’t either, just uses his strength to urge Dick on behind him. After only a moment, Dick skip-hops to catch up and they fall in step moving past the cider cart, past the small group of shops selling little girls’ hairbows and autumn wreaths alike. Further, past the booths set up to represent each major political party because, of course – it’s an election year and in a smaller town like this, grassroots efforts are key.</p><p>“Roy, where are we—?" Dick asks, but Roy just leads him on, fingers still clutching his warm sleeve, catching the scent both of the apple orchard and the apple in Dick’s shampoo.</p><p>They make it to a small bridge sitting idyllically above a small creek that’s covered in fallen gold and rust-colored leaves from the woods. For a moment Roy stops, taking in the scene which is like something out of a Van Gogh painting. Dick lightly crashes into him from behind, making a small gasping sound, but he’s stopped asking where they’re going. Instead, untethered from Roy, whose hands have dropped to the rustic wood railing, his own calloused fingers reach up and stroke over Roy’s elbow, barely brushing his hip on their journey, leaving a heady tingling sensation running through Roy’s body.</p><p>He feels Dick’s forehead touch his back, a warm weight, and all thoughts of Dick’s eyes sparkling up at their gorgeous redheaded teammate vanish from Roy’s mind. He takes a deep breath of warm afternoon air, the hint of horse and apple, the smell of the diesel from the old tractors that kids clamor on as though the machines are as fun as flying in the air on a big wheel. Then he turns, flickering his eyes over Dick’s wind-tousled strands and his tan skin, taking in his dimples and his thick eyebrows over his glasses. He gives Dick a small shove and runs the rest of the way, confident that his friend is following from the footfalls behind him.</p><p>Roy runs all the way until he gets to the table where a small girl with golden blonde hair and a woman who is probably her mother, are sitting. He turns back to see Dick slowing, the flannel tied at his waist fluttering behind him, hair a little too long over the eyes flopping in a dramatic movie-type way.</p><p>Roy’s heart races – and it has absolutely nothing to do with the quick jog of one hundred yards.</p><p>Dick stops and takes his Ray-bans off, eyeing the wall of plants behind Roy curiously, and a little suspiciously, too. “A corn maze?”</p><p>“A corn maze,” Roy says, firm. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”</p><p>Dick blinks his pretty blues at him while Roy hands the two guardians two dollars for entry and another five just because.</p><p>They walk past the table and Roy looks over at Dick. “Don’t tell me you’ve never been in a corn maze before?”</p><p>Dick side-eyes him. “Where I’m from, mazes and scarecrows have a different meaning then they probably do out here.”</p><p>“Oh, I don’t know. You’ve never seen <i>Children of the Corn</i> have you,” Roy teases.</p><p>They’ve made it to the gaping maw of the maze, the corn taller than anything Roy’s seen in recent years – tall enough to keep him from seeing over its stalks. There’s a friendly doodle beside them, showing visitors the way through, but Roy’s looking to get lost.</p><p>He leans down two inches and half-whispers in Dick’s ear, “There’s a secret to corn mazes, though. A rule.”</p><p>“Yeah?” Dick looks up at him, eyes twinkling with amusement as his glasses reflect the sun atop his raven head.</p><p>“Yeah,” Roy says, hot against Dick’s ear. “You gotta hold hands.”</p><p>Dick cracks up, one hand pushing his glasses back up into his hair after they fall down onto his nose. He looks devastatingly pretty, the hint of his jaw and shape of his nose promising the kind of handsome man he’ll become. “You’re fucking joking,” he finally breathes on a last giggle.</p><p>Roy schools his face, keeps it calm and measured like when he’s Speedy in the field. “No, totally serious. I mean, weird, right? But it’s a rule. In the Midwest. I think we should follow it, bro.”</p><p>Dick lets out another few bright chuckles, but when he looks back up at Roy, his features soften, his blue eyes bolder than the sky. “Yeah. Okay. Rules. I can follow them. Sometimes.”</p><p>There’s a wicked gleam to his eyes and a curve to his mouth that Roy has seen before. He doesn’t take him up on the offer though – not yet, anyway – and just puts out his hand, almost like a handshake.</p><p>Dick’s hand fills his perfectly, the two sliding together soft and sweet. Roy tightens his grip, giving Dick’s a squeeze and flashing him a grin.</p><p>As they enter the golden corn maze, Roy feels Dick’s fingers intertwine with his and suddenly, his food doesn’t sit so heavy. In fact, he thinks, when they’ve made their way out, he might just buy Dick some cotton candy. Blue, like his eyes.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Follow and chat with me <a href="http://mf-luder-xf.tumblr.com">on tumblr</a> and/or <a href="https://twitter.com/mf_luder_xf">twitter</a>!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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